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Caretaker
The Caretaker, '''also known semi-officially as '''Silas Crump or Clyde, is one of the only living resident of the Haunted Mansion, working as the caretaker of the Mansion and the graveyard found on it's grounds. He appears at the gates of the cemetery along with his dog. Attraction Trembling in terror, the caretaker holds a lantern in one hand and a shovel in the other hand. His dog cowers at his feet, whimpering in fear as part of cowering with his owner. The caretaker wears a brown jacket, a green scarf, and a hat. At Liberty Square's Haunted Mansion there was once a crate addressed to him which reveals his name is Silas Crump. Other Appearances Spooks and Magic In Spooks and Magic, a 1972 episode of The Mouse Factory which took place inside the Haunted Mansion, the Caretaker has a brief cameo where his name is given as "Clyde" by host Phyllis Diller, who tells him to keep watching the gates. Slave Labor Comics In the SLG comics, he is known as Horace Fusslebottom, working as a groundskeeper for the cemetery behind Gracey Manor. Both he and his dog have a cowardly streak, but Horace has a good reason for staying: as revealed in "The Groundskeeper's Secret" by the Singing Busts (in song, of course), Horace traverses the graveyard nightly so he can take his dinner breaks and drink tea with the ghost of his wife, who is buried there. In a possible continuity error, he is referred to as "Dick" in "The Final Interview;" this is likely in reference to Dick O'Dell, a fan-name for the character from the castmember-created Ghost Gallery. Disney Kingdoms He briefly appears in the Disney Kingdoms Haunted Mansion storyline where he meets the protagonist Danny and is almost immediately scared off by the Mansion's ghost. Film The Caretaker and his dog make an appearance in the 2003 film adaption as ghostly versions of themselves and can be seen populating the cemetery along with many other ghosts. While the caretaker bears a lantern and shovel similar to his ride counterpart, the dog is depicted as being healthy rather than being skinny like its ride counterpart. An early version of the script had him as a supporting character with Don Knotts playing the part. However, Knotts dropped out before filming and the character was cut but retained as a cameo. Ironically, this role as the mansion's only living resident would have been Knotts' final role in a live-action film prior to his 2006 death. Video game The Caretaker also appears in the 2003 video game but his dog is omitted. The character appears as a disgruntled ghost in the Winter Garden who keeps complaining that no one is around to pay for his work. The game's player character and main protagonist, Zeke Halloway, is partially inspired by the Caretaker. Trivia * He and his dog are the only living inhabitants of the Haunted Mansion * The name Silas Crump is a reference to imagineer Rolly Crump who worked on the Mansion and the Museum of the Weird. * On a few occasions he appeared for Meet'n'Greets where he refers to his dog as "Bones". * In the Liberty Square Mansion he and is dog are referenced in the front queue by the Emergency Exit where the footprints of both he and his dog are engraved in the pavement right by a gate leading to the staircase which goes around the mansion where a small metal dog door is found in the exit gate. * In the New Orleans Square and Liberty Square Haunted Mansion the caretaker is portrayed as a shaven older man with long white hair but in the Tokyo Mansion he is much younger having brown hair along with sideburns and a beard. * In the cast-member created Ghost Gallery, the Caretaker is reimagined as being named Dick O' Dell. This caretaker was born in 1931 to a gravedigger and a Romani woman who both died in a rollercoaster accident when he was a boy. Dick then worked at said carnival until it 1971 when it went broke and Dick subsequently moved to Florida in order to work at Walt Disney World. Dick was given the job of being caretaker of the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square and he was given his own room in the mansion to call his own. * During Haunted Mansion Holiday, the Caretaker is replaced by Jack Skellington. * The caretaker's animatronic face-mould is reused in Walt Disney World's Jungle Cruise where it is on a Safari explorer that got chased up a tree by a charging rhinoceros. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Servants Category:Alive Category:Humans Category:Heroes Category:Ghost Gallery